Page 24 - IN THE LOOP (APR-SEPT 2021)

UN Global Compact Leaders Summit

mindset are important tools to elevate the youth and
mentioned that Interloop has collaborated with TCF and
built 29 schools including primary, secondary, and higher
secondary campuses providing quality education to
around 4000 marginalized children including 50% girls.
Other than that, we support many youngsters through
scholarships for higher education. He emphasized that
private and public organizations should work together to
create a better life for future generations.

Addressing the global shift towards digitalization as an
impact of the pandemic, he said that landscape of work
environment and doing business is rapidly shifting. While
we are adapting to automation and agility, we must strive
to strike a balance between technology and human
resource management to minimize any adverse effects on
job opportunities, to ensure economic growth. Skill
At the UN Global Compact, Leaders Summit held online enhancement of the workforce as per requirement of the
in June 2021, Musadaq Zulqarnain, Chairman Interloop digital era is imperative and the role of organizations
Limited along with other Global Leaders spoke at the becomes crucial. According to him, revised educational
panel discussion on “South Asia Response to Global qualifications are required which are digital savvy and
Issues: Decent Work, Labour & Consumer Rights”, hosted enable people to work from home. Further, the current
by South Asia - Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and need is to start adding new service sectors designed
Bangladesh. flexibly for people.

Speaking of measures Interloop has taken in combating Another panelist, Dagmar Walter, Director of ILO Decent
COVID'19, Musadaq said that we at Interloop assured the Work Team South Asia and India, accentuated UNGC’s
continuity of business during the global crisis, by call for a coordinated international plan for governments
assessing organizational exposure and positioning and businesses to unite & remain committed to the
ourselves to appropriately support key stakeholders, realization of workers human rights, in line with the UN
employees, and customers. We rolled out a detailed SDG alliance to eliminate child and forced labor. Also, she
policy and pandemic recovery plan, ensuring vaccination echoed UNGC’s guidance to companies on upholding the
of 100% of employees at all manufacturing facilities in labor principles and standards as essential for realizing
Faisalabad and Lahore with the help of the Government the labor rights of workers and for promoting decent
of Punjab. We stopped all non-essential expenditure, work and inclusive growth in South Asia.
suspended all CAPEX investments so that we could have
enough to provide essentials to our people, and secured Nina Smith, CEO of GoodWeave International in Nepal
their jobs and livelihoods by not laying off any of our shared how GoodWeave helps in formalizing such work
employees. During the outbreak, Interloop spent around sites to address the labour rights issues. She emphasized
PKR 70 million to help the community fight this pandemic. that global brands should partner with different
Talking about investing in the people, Musadaq briefed organisations in the region to address these issues. She
about the trainings and awareness sessions regularly further shared that a policy shift is being observed in EU
conducted for the employees with Health Enables Return and US markets, such as child labour due diligence law
(HER) & LEVIS, Fair Trade, and Amazon, etc. focusing on and mandatory human rights laws, which could also have
worker health and well-being, fair wages, and benefits for positive impacts.
business & workers.
Krishan Balendra, Chairman of John Keells Holdings PLC,
Developing the female workforce and providing them with Sri Lanka said that increasingly the consumers are becoming
equal opportunities for economic uplift has always been conscious of the practices of suppliers, and hence it has
high on our agenda. We have Re-connect program, become important to have as much transparency as
availability of daycare centers at all our facilities for possible. He said that this could be possible through robust
working mothers, door-to-door pick and drop service, supplier code of conduct to monitor suppliers across various
and positions for females having STEM degrees. We have criteria including their labour and environmental practices.
699 females with STEM degrees including 86 related to
Textile, 50% fresh female graduates are inducted through Mia Seppo, the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh
Management Training Officer Program every year, and and moderator of the session emphasised on the need of
70% female retention rate after parental leave. We see a great leadership to provide strategic direction and to take
future with men and women working and thriving together. determined action. She shared that Global Compact can
play a big role in facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration,
Commenting on tackling Child Labour issues, he stressed innovative thought leadership, transparency in reporting
that education, skill development, and entrepreneurial of progress and data-driven initiatives.

24